If I Have To Eat It I Will.

Those of you with children may know how picky (adults included) they can be when it comes to food. Dinner time in our home always includes some complaint about not liking what has been prepared to eat. This got me thinking. Many people have the idea that in an emergency if they "have" to eat or drink something they will. If you have buckets and #10 cans filled with wheat and powdered milk, but have never used them, how will you know you like them. Even in an emergency you won't want to eat food that you don't like just because that is all there is.

Let's say you gather your family and have a milk taste test with several different brands of powdered milk, you may find your family really likes 

 milk A and not milk B or C. Now, what if you have only stored milk B? You will have to use your stored milk B to cook with, and plan on purchasing milk A for drinking. The milk from the LDS cannery is wonderful milk to cook with, but have you ever drank it? If you are planning on storing this milk for your children to drink you may find they quit drinking milk rather quickly. Studies have show that adults and children would rather starve than eat or drink something just because that is all there is. This can also happen if you are eating the same thing day in and day out. People will quit eating rather than eat the same thing over and over again.

Never store food that you have not tried. I know how expensive those #10 cans of fruit, dried butter, and honey powder are, but if you save them for an emergency and no one likes them, you will be wishing you had taste tested them before the emergency. As an example, I dried apples last fall every day for about 2 weeks. I was so proud of myself for saving money and having a fruit to put in my child's lunch that I didn't think that one of my kids wouldn't like dehydrated apples. Who doesn't like dehydrated apples? Well, one of my children won't eat them and I had no idea that she felt that way. This led me to find out that my kids love mandarin oranges. I haven't stored oranges because I don't care for them and I never knew my kids liked them. Now I am storing dehydrated apples AND mandarin oranges. Lesson learned, just because I don't like something doesn't meant that everyone else won't either.

Another thought on kids being picky is the clothes that they wear. What clothes do you have stored in your 72-hour kits? Don't think that they will wear things just because that is all there is. Make your life easier by asking them what they would like to wear (within reason) and store those.

How many of you have a wheat grinder, or solar oven? Do you know how to cook over a fire or with a rocket stove? Can you make bread or cheese or how about wheat meat? All of these skills are so useful if we didn't have

  modern conveniences, but most people think they will learn to do these things if the situation arises. I will use bread making as an example. About 2 years ago I decided to learn to make bread. It wasn't an easy process and I had many mistakes along the way. There are many things that can happen to make bread not turn out. By trial and error I came across a recipe that works for me and after 2 years of trying, I can finally make bread without stressing out about it. Do you want to have to waste time with a learning curve while trying something new? In an emergency you will need that time to feed your family, they won't be able to wait 2 years for a loaf of edible bread. (click here to see the recipe that I use to make bread)

I received a sun oven (solar cooker) for Christmas this past year. It has been so much fun learning how to cook in it. My kitchen stays cooler and I am 

 cooking without using any power. The sun oven is a learning experience and there is a learning curve with it as well. Not everything turns out, but I have the time and resources NOW to get all the kinks out. During an emergency with 5 hungry children waiting for food is not the time to learn. Take the time to learn NOW the things you will need for later. (click here to read more on the sun oven)

July Goals:
WATER: Store 14 gallons per person for a 2 week supply. This is the bare minimum for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. I would recommend storing water everywhere you can think of, under stairs, in the car, storage rooms, under beds,etc. Use soda bottles, laundry detergent bottles (for cleaning water) and any other container with the word "PETE" on the bottom of it. That means is will hold up over time and is safe to store water in.

OILS/FATS: Store 25lbs of oils and fats per person for a year storage. This includes mayonnaise,butter, oils, peanut butter, salad dressings, and shortening. Stock up this month while the prices are lower, watch for sales on ketchup and mustard as well.



CHARCOAL is our other non-food storage item this month. Store charcoal in 5 gallon buckets to keep it dry, and it will last indefinitely. Watch for charcoal to go on sale throughout the summer months. You will need charcoal to cook meals with especially if you don't have other ways of cooking with out electricity.
To cook 1 hour a day for a year you will need 24 #15 bags of charcoal.

Enjoy the journey!
Enjoy the blessings!
Feel the Peace!